How would you deal with a horrible personal tragedy? I don't mean, like, you accidentally shrunk your favorite concert t-shirt in the wash or the city shut down your favorite Olive Garden for repeated health code violations. I mean serious, for real tragedy. Like, for instance, a horrific beating that left you brain-damaged. Imagine five drunken creeps literally kicking the memories out of your head, leaving you half-dead in the streets. A ruined Rocksimus Maximus Tour shirt doesn't seem like such a big deal now, does it?On April 8, 2000, Kingston, NY resident Mark Hogancamp was brutally beaten to near-death by five drunk animals outside of a local bar, apparently because he mentioned his affinity for wearing women's shoes. Hogancamp spent nine days in a coma and forty-plus days in the hospital after waking up. After leaving the hospital--or, rather, being kicked out as he could no longer afford his stay--Hogancamp was forced to relearn the simple skills we all take for granted. He could no longer hold a regular, 40-hour-a-week job and the bulk of his pre-beating memories had been wiped clean. Through several volumes of journals he'd kept as a barely functioning alcoholic, Hogancamp learned that he had kind of been a self-hating, self-destructive asshole when he drank. The new Mark Hogancamp, however, was all about love and sober-living. And dolls.
After finding that the therapy options open to him were less than helpful, Hogancamp decided to blaze his own trail of healing. In his backyard, Hogancamp created the fictional town of Marwencol--located somewhere in Belgium and, until Mark's alter-ego's arrival, populated entirely by beautiful women--and documented it in photographs. In Marwencol, Hogancamp owns the most popular bar in town, as well as, a one-of-a-kind "cat fight" club; is married to a beautiful woman named Anna; and lusted after by a sexy, green-haired witch with a time machine. And though the SS is constantly trying to find Marwencol and take it over, the citizens--Hogancamp, the ladies, soldiers who have wandered away from the Front and found themselves in a place largely-untouched by the savagery of war--always band together to defeat their nefarious plots.
After finding that the therapy options open to him were less than helpful, Hogancamp decided to blaze his own trail of healing. In his backyard, Hogancamp created the fictional town of Marwencol--located somewhere in Belgium and, until Mark's alter-ego's arrival, populated entirely by beautiful women--and documented it in photographs. In Marwencol, Hogancamp owns the most popular bar in town, as well as, a one-of-a-kind "cat fight" club; is married to a beautiful woman named Anna; and lusted after by a sexy, green-haired witch with a time machine. And though the SS is constantly trying to find Marwencol and take it over, the citizens--Hogancamp, the ladies, soldiers who have wandered away from the Front and found themselves in a place largely-untouched by the savagery of war--always band together to defeat their nefarious plots.The documentary introduces viewers to Hogancamp, a likable guy who smokes like a chimney and wears ladies shoes, and allows him to recount some of Marwencol's most harrowing tales, two of which involve Hogancamp's handsome counterpart being abducted by the SS, tortured, and saved by Marwencol's quick-thinking women. We also witness Hogancamp's introduction to the New York City art scene, following him on a rare journey outside of Kingston to a gallery show in Greenwich Village. Hogancamp's story is sad, but inspiring, and his fantasy world, which he admits many times to liking more than reality, is an amazingly beautiful place. Seriously. I want to vacation in Marwencol this summer.
GEP says: WATCH IT!
